Leashing a tornado and living to blog about it

No Flies on This Mutt

Some time ago I bought a Nina Ottosson game for Shiva. I believe it is called “The Brick”. I saw these food-dispensing toys advertised on Silvia Jay’s website. Immediately I wanted one. It looked like a great challenge for our brainiac dog. Physically, we’re never going to tire her out, but mentally there is hope. After searching the site and watching all the fun marketing videos I chose one that I thought would be easy enough to prevent frustration, but tough enough that she wouldn’t get bored after a couple of sessions.

Before I show you the video I just want to say, I love these games. They are on the pricey side, which is why I haven’t bought another one yet, but they are definitely worth the cost. They are fun for the dog, promote problem-solving skills, and – most importantly – they are durable. As you can see, this one is still fully intact.

Shiva attacks everything like a half-starved convict. One would think a couple of stale pieces of kibble once a week would be enough to sustain her. I know I should let her out of the dungeon more often but Hell’s Kitchen is a higher priority on my list. I can’t be alone in this. Too bad, so sad, Puppers.

Wow! What a smart dog! Was this Shiva’s first time? I couldn’t tell from your post.

I’d also like to try one of these toys but haven’t stuffed down my inner frugalista enough to spend the money.

But I have another idea that I don’t have energy to implement. But if someone else does, I’ll happily become a customer.

I’d like to see a rental business where you can rent one of these expensive dog toys. That way you could try it out and see if your dog likes it. And swap it out for something new before they get tired of it. What do you think?

This wasn’t Shiva’s first time with the game, though she did figure it out remarkably fast. We bought it around Christmas time last year and I bring it out every now and then just for something different. Actually, I’d stopped playing with it because she’s gotten so good it’s not that exciting anymore.

This is why your rental idea is so fantastic! I would totally be interested in something like that. Once the dog has picked up the game, it stops being a challenge. But if you could return it and pick out a new one, that would keep it exciting. It would work with games like these as well because they are so durable and easy to clean. They stand up to the Shiva test so I think that’s something.

I’ve been considering getting one of these for Daph, though the price is sort of prohibitive right now. I actually love Pamela’s idea of renting them out or trading them! Is this the only one you’ve tried? I know they have a bunch on Amazon; I haven’t been able to find any in petstores around here.

Also, it’s so refreshing to see a dog with similar issue to Daph; thanks for that 🙂

In my utter genius-ness, I’ve made really cheap ones! If you take a muffin pan, put some treats in all the bowl parts, then cover it with foil/cups/metal muffin things/anything that will fit there, you have a similar game, for a fraction of the price, though it does get banged up easily.

I believe Shiva is going at it with what I would call gusto!
I believe there are some plastic versions of the Nina Ottoson toys being sold at Petsmart now. I’ve been wanting to get one for my Sheltie and Lab for some time now. Clearly, I need to do so soon!

Lol, Shiva is a crack up and so quick and clever! I’ve done the muffin tin variation with Frankie, the second time I videoed it, took him a lot longer than a minute though:-) Must try it with Beryl, I think I’d need to set aside an hour for her! She might surprise me as she is very food motivated.

Ooooo…my mom’s been thinking abouts getting one of those for me and Brudder Ranger but she was worried that we might gets frustrated with it. That one looks super fun. Maybe I’ll have to put it on my Christmas list!